The United States in Latin America Economic and Social Trends in 20th Century Latin America, and the U.S. Response

Latin American Independence Latin America gained its independence soon after the U.S. Enlightenment Ideas (Locke, Rousseau, Jefferson, etc…) Inspiration of the American & French Revolutions Creole discontent (similar to American Revolution) Spain and Portugal are busy fighting Napoleonic Wars

Latin American Independence The Haitian Revolution was the first Latin American revolution, in 1791 Led by a former slave: Toussaint L’Ouverture Simon Bolivar led revolutions in many other parts of Latin America By 1830, almost all of the region was independent

Latin America, 1830s

Differences with the United States Despite becoming independent soon after the U.S., Latin American nations developed differently U.S. inherited British democratic traditions Portugal and Spain didn’t have this tradition

Differences with the United States The early U.S. had a relatively developed economy Latin America was mostly used for agriculture and resources by the Europeans U.S. had a middle class Latin America had a small elite and a large number of poor

Unlike Africa and Asia…. The U.S. was the imperial power in Latin America The U.S. worked to keep the Europeans out (Monroe Doctrine) And did business throughout Latin America, buying up much of the land and controlling many of the resources in the process

Early U.S. Imperialism By the late 1800s, with the U.S. industrializing, it started to look outwards 1898: The Spanish- American War 1914: The Panama Canal was completed

In the 20th Century Latin American nations that were trying to grow economically had a tense relationship with the U.S. The U.S. was a major economic partner But U.S. companies also extracted much of the wealth

Why the United States? By the 20th Century, the U.S. was the primary importer of Latin American goods A number of American corporations owned land in Latin American nations or operated there Dole (Agricultural Goods such as pineapple, bananas, etc.) Chevron (Oil) Merck and Pfizer (Pharmaceutical) Alcoa (Aluminum) In many cases, it was believed that U.S. companies were working with the U.S. government in order to keep Latin America poor

20th Century Revolutions Have largely been about giving more land to poor farmers, and increasing production at home in order to boost development Often, this has gone along with plans to remove U.S.-backed interests

Cuba Would be one good example of the tension between the US and Latin America More on Cuba later….

In Guatemala In 1952, free elections held in Guatemala brought Jacobo Arbenz to power as President Arbenz had run on a platform of land re- distribution Once in power he began to seize foreign-owned land and give it to peasants

The United Fruit Company Was an American company that owned large amounts of land in Guatemala for plantations (major product was Chiquita Bananas) Much of their land was seized

In Response The United Fruit Company began to lobby the U.S. Congress, saying that Arbenz was a Communist (he wasn’t) The CIA led a coup that overthrew the Arbenz government The new dictator gave the United Fruit Company all its land back

The Guatemalan Civil War After Arbenz, the U.S. propped up a host of dictators in Guatemala This led to a civil war which began in the 1970’s A peace accord was not signed until 1996

In Chile Salvador Allende was elected President in 1970 A Socialist, Allende spent huge amounts on housing, education, and health care He also nationalized businesses, including some that were U.S. backed

The CIA Again Intervened The American intelligence agency began training and supplying Allende’s opposition, hoping they would overthrow the government They did They bombed the Presidential palace (in planes given by the U.S.), killing Allende and 3,000 others

Enter Augusto Pinochet Pinochet came to power after Allende He had been commander-in-chief of the military under Allende, but had been approached by the CIA Once in power, he reversed Allende’s decisions and gave land back to the U.S. companies

Under Pinochet The economy did improve, largely due to U.S. investment But he also arrested and executed at least 100,000 that were opposed to him, and censored the press in order to keep order

Today Latin America tends to have mixed feelings about the U.S. Almost all of the nations like U.S. tourists, who spend all kinds of money there on vacations

But Relations With the Government Are often strained Many Latin American nations feel the United States is still too involved in their affairs Many feel the U.S. actively seeks to keep Latin America poor Many Latin American nations have now begun to bypass American aid, and rely on China and other countries for their loans and support